• ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    2 days ago

    To be fair, they’re (understandably) under martial law which has been extended in 90 day increments since 2022 with parliamentary approval. Elections aren’t to be held under martial law per Ukranian law, and there have been referenda to determine if elections should be held, which failed.

    • 小莱卡@lemmygrad.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      21 hours ago

      I would buy this if westerners applied the same nuance to states under imperialist siege, but of course they never have that nuance.

    • Soot [any]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      And the bit where they criminalised over ten opposition parties?

      there have been referenda to determine if elections should be held

      ??? I can’t find evidence of any such referenda. This seems to just be false. Do you just mean ‘survey’?

      I am (and most people are) not saying Ukraine MUST hold elections tomorrow. But the meme’s point stands - that none of these people have a meaningful democratic mandate.

      • ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        17 hours ago

        Referendum was incorrect. It was just a vote by the legislature, so elected representatives. I had seen Referendum used in some source, but I forget where.

        On 26 February 2025, after a previous failed vote on a similar resolution,[27] the Verkhovna Rada passed a resolution reaffirming that elections should not be held during martial law, and also pledged to hold a presidential election upon the conclusion of the Russo-Ukrainian War.[28] On 6 March 2025 opposition politicians Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, after having confirmed that they had held discussions with United States representatives, confirmed that they still opposed elections held during wartime.[29]

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Ukrainian_presidential_election

        • cornishon@lemmygrad.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          2 hours ago

          I mean, banning most of the opposition parties certainly helps getting the cooperation of the remaining ones.

        • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          13 hours ago

          So elected representatives decided that further elections are not necessary, and in the country where opposition is banned, hmm, indeed a democracy to behold.

        • culprit@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          14 hours ago

          On 6 March 2025 opposition politicians Petro Poroshenko and Yulia Tymoshenko, after having confirmed that they had held discussions with United States representatives, confirmed that they still opposed elections held during wartime.

          So democratic, much liberty.

    • Call Me M.@lemmy.ml
      cake
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 day ago

      dont try to argue with the red army on lemmy. they cannot take any reasoning, lol. it seems like they dont know anyone from the Ukraine and only care about spewing russian Propaganda…

      • m532@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 day ago

        dont try to argue with the white army on lemmy. they cannot take any reasoning, lol. it seems like they dont know anyone from the proletariat and only care about spewing tsarist Propaganda…

    • papalonian@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      2 days ago

      Genuine questions:

      Was he seemingly fairly elected originally, and did he hold elections previously? (I don’t know how Ukrainian elections work or how long he was in office before 2022)

      How “in control” is he of the parliament / the referenda determining elections? Is it a Trump situation where all his buddies are in position to say, “sure! give him all the power!”, or is there more separation?

      I’m admittedly relatively uninformed in the conflict, but I will say it was interesting seeing the general opinion of Lemmy go from “Slava Ukraini, fuck Russian Nazis, here’s some footage of Russian teenagers getting blown up with drones, Trump bad for not wanting to give aid” to “Zelensky is a fascist war criminal and also a Nazi and dumb American liberals are bad for siding with them” seemingly overnight. The switch happened a while ago but it was apparently unanimous.

      • cornishon@lemmygrad.ml
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        2 hours ago

        Zelensky was fairly elected because his platform was peace with Russia and he had strong messaging about how Russians and Ukrainians are brotherly nations. Of course he then immediately dropped the pretense the moment he got elected and started passing anti-Russian laws.

      • Was he seemingly fairly elected originally, and did he hold elections previously? (I don’t know how Ukrainian elections work or how long he was in office before 2022)

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Ukrainian_presidential_election

        Zelensky was elected with a fairly overwhelming majority of nearly 75%. He was particularly supported in the east of Ukraine. He hasn’t held elections himself because Russia invaded the country.

        Ukrainian electoral law prohibits elections during wartime. If it’s too unsafe, one can even argue that the security situation prevents free and fair elections, thus making an election under such circumstances unconstitutional. Zelensky wields significant authority in the country, but it’s not because he seized it, it’s because the country is politically fairly united due to the war. The Ukrainian anti-corruption agencies have taken aim at some high-level allies of Zelensky (though not the man himself, not that there are credible allegations or something), and thus far Zelensky has allowed the investigations and prosecutions.

        The whole “Zelensky is a Nazi” thing is part of the Russian propaganda narrative. Ukraine’s history contains a fair few attempts at independence, and in more recent times against the Soviet Union. Back in the day, Ukrainian independence groups were ideologically aligned with the main enemy of the Soviets, which was Nazi Germany. This is the whole “Banderite” term being flung around: fascist groups who fought against the Soviets for Ukrainian independence.

        Ukraine still regards these people as heroes for fighting against the Soviets. Their fascist ideology is mostly ignored, even by Zelensky (a Jewish man himself). Even today there are far-right groups in Ukraine. Zelensky has essentially recruited these people in the fight against Russia since they are fervent nationalists. Putin uses this as “evidence” that Ukraine is a fascist state, and that the Russian attack on Ukraine is as virtuous as the Soviet defense against the Nazis.

        In reality, actual fascist ideology isn’t a widely held belief in Ukraine, and the parties that tried to run in the election espousing far-right views did not do well. The largest far-right party, Svoboda, received a mere 1.65% of the vote for their presidential candidate.

        • Hell_nah_brother@thelemmy.club
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          6 hours ago

          Sorry but I got the hick.

          The whole “Zelensky is a Nazi” thing is part of the Russian propaganda narrative.

          I would personally disagree, not completely but I feel it’s incorrect. I would ask, is Zelensky leading a country with fascist ideology? Let’s see…

          Ukrainian independence groups were ideologically aligned with the main enemy of the Soviets, which was Nazi Germany.

          Well, that’s concerning, no?

          This is the whole “Banderite” term being flung around: fascist groups who fought against the Soviets for Ukrainian independence

          The “Banderite” term refers to Stepan Bandera.

          Bandera remains a highly controversial figure in Ukraine. Many Ukrainians hail him as an example, or as a martyred liberation fighter, while other Ukrainians, particular in the south and east, condemn him as a fascist or Nazi collaborator whose followers, called Banderites, were responsible for massacres of Polish and Jewish civilians during World War II.

          Bandera in 2010 was awarded as “Hero of Ukraine”. He is in traditional folk Ukrainian music. In October 2007, the city of Lviv erected a statue dedicated to Bandera. On 1 January 2014, Bandera’s 105th birthday was celebrated by a torchlight procession of 15,000 people in the centre of Kyiv and thousands more rallied near his statue in Lviv. In 2021, the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory under the authority of the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, included Bandera, among other Ukrainian nationalist figures, in Virtual Necropolis, a project intended to commemorate historical figures important for Ukraine.

          Ukraine still regards these people as heroes for fighting against the Soviets.

          Well, that’s concerning pt.2

          Their fascist ideology is mostly ignored, even by Zelensky (a Jewish man himself).

          Bibi looking at your comment like 👀

          Even today there are far-right groups in Ukraine. Zelensky has essentially recruited these people in the fight against Russia since they are fervent nationalists.

          Well, that’s concerning pt.3

          In reality, actual fascist ideology isn’t a widely held belief in Ukraine

          How the U.S. Has Empowered and Armed Neo-Nazis in Ukraine

          Nazi Symbols on Ukraine’s Front Lines Highlight Thorny Issues of History

          Nazis in Ukraine: Seeing through the fog of the information war

          • papalonian@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            0
            ·
            5 hours ago

            Do you think Ukraine should allow the invasion and surrender, if a large portion of their support comes from Nazi sympathizers? I’m not trying to rage bait or or pull a “So yOu thInK thIS tHEn?!” I’m genuinely trying to understand the other side of the argument.

            Like, I agree with you, it’s obviously not “good” to have those fucks on your side. But it’s really easy for me to say that while I’m sitting on my ass in my comfortable house thousands of miles away from conflict. If I were the leader of a country being invaded by a much larger force, and I had essentially a militia in my country ready to fight and defend it, and my options were “use the militia or watch your nation burn”, I’d probably be in the same position…

            • Hell_nah_brother@thelemmy.club
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              0
              ·
              4 hours ago

              And I will try to reply in a normal way, I promise. I already got this same question discussing the same topic (not saying someone is repeating a propaganda they did not understand, but you know… here we are again.)

              Do you think Ukraine should allow the invasion and surrender, if a large portion of their support comes from Nazi sympathizers?

              This question makes a big assumption that it’s hard to ignore. Because “if a large portion of their support comes from Nazi” we have only two options: either you don’t have people fit for combat that are not nazi in your entire country (so you are a leader of a nazi country) or they are not all nazi and you are picking the bad ones for… reasons?

              we are also ignoring that we are discussing an “if” questions. So yes, we can make up any reality we want.

              Like image asking: “what man? Hitler either had no choice but to create the SS or his country would be destroyed!”

              ??? I mean, okay good… what do you want me to tell you…

              • papalonian@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                4 hours ago

                Thank you for the good faith response, promise I’m not a parrot for anyone lol.

                In my (uninformed) view, it isn’t so much that, “Ukraine only has Nazis capable of fighting”, so much as it’s, “Russia is a way bigger country with a larger army, we need literally everyone we’ve got, even the Nazis”.

                Like if the entire country was rallying behind a Nazi flag and they were tossing people in concentration camps and making plans to genocide another group it’d obviously be a different story, but they’re trying to kick people out of their own land, and as far as I know (again, not terribly far) they don’t have plans to keep going afterwards. If that were the case… Yeah, maybe Russia should just take em all out. Not a fan of Russia, but less of a fan of Nazis.

                The Hitler analogy isn’t a fair one because Germany was an aggressor. The argument can’t be made that they were in the same situation that Ukraine is in.

                • ZeroHora@lemmy.ml
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  0
                  ·
                  2 hours ago

                  Like if the entire country was rallying behind a Nazi flag and they were tossing people in concentration camps and making plans to genocide another group it’d obviously be a different story

                  I’ll just point that the rallying behind a Nazi flag is not exactly how things go in reality. MAGAs use the USA flag for the majority, the Brazilian far right tried to stole the Brazilian soccer uniform as a their symbol(which is the country flag colors), the Ukraine banderites was using the Ukraine flag(with the nazi spin).

              • eldavi@lemmy.ml
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                0
                ·
                4 hours ago

                @papalonian@lemmy.world the nazi thing is not propaganda; the united states congress literally banned weapons sales to ukraine because of heir nazis proclivities. their first attempt to do so was back in 2015 – ask yourself how are you 11 years slower than congress in recognizing this?

      • emergencyfood@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        15 hours ago

        the general opinion of Lemmy go from “Slava Ukraini, fuck Russian Nazis, here’s some footage of Russian teenagers getting blown up with drones, Trump bad for not wanting to give aid” to “Zelensky is a fascist war criminal and also a Nazi and dumb American liberals are bad for siding with them” seemingly overnight. The switch happened a while ago but it was apparently unanimous.

        Lemmy has always had people who took the second position, and still has people who take the first position. There has been a general shift, but it was neither sudden nor unanimous.

        • papalonian@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          0
          ·
          14 hours ago

          When I first joined Lemmy, those that held the second opinion were down voted en masse and we’re always lambasted as Russian trolls and Nazi sympathizers. I never saw a pro Russia / anti Ukraine post or comment with positive votes. Nowadays I don’t think I see many explicitly “pro Russia” posts but there’s a good number of anti Ukraine posts that are relatively high on the front page, and most pro Ukraine comments have at least one upvoted reply calling them a liberal or pro-fascist.

          I didn’t necessarily mean unanimous as in, “everyone now has this opinion”, so much as “the hive mind has decided that we now upvote this opinion and down vote that one”. Like, there’s Trump supporters on Lemmy, whenever they comment anything pro-Trump it’s kind of a given (not necessarily saying a good one) that it’s going to get downvoted, and most things critical of him will get upvoted even if it’s not the most accurate or ingenuous criticism. To me, it very much seemed like one week it was “upvote Ukraine, downvote Russia!”, and the next it was “downvote Ukraine, Russia…🤷🏽‍♂️!”. Somewhere around the Iran shitshow.

      • Vinny_93@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 day ago

        My two cents as a western European: several things can be true at once. Russia is still the agressor, starting with the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Zelenskyy was elected shortly after that, replacing a puppet regime that was in place for quite some time (although that’s just what we’ve been told, again I’m not Ukrainian so I haven’t followed a lot of it).

        Zelenskyy does have some folks in government that are his unconditional allies but that’s uniform in politics. His current role is that of a caricature he’s become since he was painted as some sort of hero in 2022, where he made some correct PR decisions. Now that he shares a stage with the US’s odd characters, his job has become somewhat bizarre so he’s fully aware he needs to be looking more at the EU. He’s always been pro-EU and wanted to join as soon as he took power.

        This shift you speak of came from lemmy.ml or lemmygrad, but their users also spill over into world since those instances have mostly been defederated because of the baseless accusations towards Ukraine. What is based in reality is that there in extremists in Ukrainian ranks that have, let’s say, unorthodox views, but their main objective is still to just fight Russia out of Ukraine.

        I think that for most of lemmy, people are just getting more or less bored of voicing their support, making it easier for pro-Russian voices to prevail. But it’s usually pretty much troll-ey ragebait and I think a lot of lemmings just downvote and move on. Plus, lemmy and piefed have pretty decent filtering options making it easier to just block content you’re tired of seeing.

      • DontTreadOnBigfoot@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        0
        ·
        1 day ago

        My assumption is that the Russian psyops teams discovered Lemmy and have been influencing opinions, the same as they have previously on Facebook.